


Apocalypse on Earth-38

by GreyWolves



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: AvaLance, F/F, Heavy Angst, SuperCorp, end of the world AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:40:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21858427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyWolves/pseuds/GreyWolves
Summary: The world ended, more or less, and everyone has scattered in the wind. Kara comes across some old friends who help remind her why she wanted to become Supergirl. Also, hints of Avalance.One-shot now. Two-shot later on.I did not check my spelling. Don't hate me for it.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	Apocalypse on Earth-38

Kara stepped out onto the street, she walked passed the bodies, climbed over a collapsed street lamp and walked around a burning vehicle. Thick black smoke wafted up along the buildings, and the ground was stained various sickly colours, the air was hot and stagnant with the trauma of the last few months. The former-hero approached an abandoned car and knelt to grabbed at its edges, the metal crinkled and folded beneath her fingers as she flipped the car, letting it land harshly on its side, the windows shatter, and glass rained down onto gravel beneath. Kara looked back over her shoulder to the tiny squad that had huddled in a cramped alleyway for safety.

"Move!" 

Vasquez led the beaten soldiers to the cover that had been made for them by the Kryptonian. Peters was shot in the chest; he landed awkwardly beside the lamp post. Kara managed to deflect the majority of fire that was heavily concentrated on humans. Smith felt a burn across her leg, a small flesh injury that she ignored until she dropped by the cover, next to Bryans and Reinhart. 

Kara glared at those attackers, the scared, stupid humans, attacking their kind out of fear; she let her eyes turn red, she focused on the buildings beside the party and lasers shot up, scattering the windows of the former office building, the glass fell on the aggressors, stunning them, forcing them to go defensive. They covered those heads and eyes from the onslaught. 

Vasquez watched the angry alien move forward again, to clear another path. "Screw this... Supergirl! Charge up!" The agent pulled a device out of her vest pocket. 

Kara looked back at the agent. "No! Don't!" 

The world lit up for a second when the sun grenade exploded at Kara's feet, she felt one hundred suns across her skin and their warmth flooding her veins. Kara smiled. 

The humans looked away from the Olympian sight, as the entity within the light floated, head thrown back as if the light was heavenly. 

"That was a bad idea," commented Smith, grimacing as she pressed down on her bleeding leg. 

"We needed a Superhero." 

When the light went out, Supergirl was standing tall with her arms relaxed at her sides. The enemy hesitated, raising the guns and then lowering them again. There was a beat, an empty quiet where everyone held their breaths and waited. Then Supergirl opened her eyes and breathed out. 

. . .

National City was a ruin of itself, a crumbling piece of history, a bit of the world that was once. What was left of the human race scavenged and scurried about the damaged buildings and trashed streets. The heroes were pushed back, weakened by the new order. The aliens left, when they could, for earth had become a wasteland. The villains ruled tiny kingdoms of chaos that eventually ran out of food and water, just like everyone else. Alliance were made, broken and then made again. 

Eventually, Supergirl admitted to herself that she couldn't save everyone, not the world, not the people she loved, and so she stayed in National City and helped those who sought her out. Kara had soldiers, people who were willing to fight with her, and a few were the leftover agents of the DEO, some were once NCPD, most were just people. Regular, breakable people, with the weight of the ruined world on their shoulders. 

. . .

  
It rained in National City, and the weary inhabitants quickly put out buckets and chambers to catch the rainwater that fell. The people stood in the streets and let themselves be drenched, enjoying the shower and the heaviness of their soaked clothing. 

Kara ripped off the dark uniform, secondhand from the DEO, torn to shreds by the bullets and blades of the day. The belt was pulled off with shaking hands that were covered in dried blood and dropped onto the bathroom floor. She pulled her hair loose, feeling where the dirt and sweat had gathered the most. She forced her boots off, throwing them with her feet in any direction. Her body ached, the comedown after a sun grenade was brutal. Kara would need to sleep for a day and a night at the least. 

There wasn't enough food anymore for Supergirl to keep up her strength; she didn't fly anymore; she rarely used her freeze breath or heat vision. Vasquez and her squad had been pinned down during a routine patrol and Kara had to intervene, she had heard Miles fall, and then Braxton and the Smith had been injured, there was no other choice. 

Their sanctuary had once been a few hundred. Some had left, raiders or rival factions had killed most, Kara tried to save as many as she could, but it was never enough. Humanity was dying a slow, brutal death, and all Supergirl could do was watch, it was the tragic conclusion to the fantastical existence of an immortal superhero. 

Kara sat on a bench and scrubbed herself clean with a bucket of rainwater 

. . . 

"I don't want you carrying them anymore. I don't trust you."

"Supergi-- Kara! We couldn't get out. It was an emergency, which is why we have them. To be used in an emergency." 

"It wasn't an emergency! I was getting you out!" 

"I lost five of my men." 

"It's not your call anymore. Give them to someone else." 

"There is no one else." 

Vasquez let the angry hero storm passed her in the hallway and watched as she stomped further into the depths of the former-DEO base. Time had continued, relentless and mercilessly it had continued, Alex was gone, Lena had been taken, Dreamer had retreated to the future with Brainy, there was no one left. Only Supergirl. Just Supergirl. Kara Danvers.

. . . 

During The Event, Sara had fled, fearful that her ship would've been destroyed. Barry apologised, for the same Event was happening in his world, and so he couldn't help, he had to leave. Batwoman fought beside the Flash and Green Arrow, and they were victorious, they had saved their world. 

During the aftermath, her otherworldly friends tried to contact Kara, but she would ignore them. Kara didn't hate them for choosing to save their worlds; she hated herself for not being able to save her own. The world darkened, one by one the humans she loved either died or vanished. 

. . .

  
"Incoming!"

Supergirl placed herself front and centre, and there was no particular pose, just the tightening of her hands into fists as she prepared.

"Form a line!" 

The base panicked, red lights flashed against the dark metal of the fortified place, and an alarm echoed and vibrated down its corridors. 

Vasquez and some others lined themselves behind the Kryptonian, guns at the ready, focus on the entry, a giant metal door that bent a little more with every attack. 

"Hold the line! Get ready! They will not breakthrough!" 

"Who is it?" 

"What is it? More likely." 

"They've breached the main gate." 

"Multiple readings." 

"I'm detecting weapons signatures." 

"Nothing gets into the base! We protect our people!" 

"They are at the door."

"Do we have eyes yet?" Vazquez called out, asking anyone. 

"Cameras are down. Supergirl, what do you see?" 

Kara took a breath and pushed her vision to look beyond the giant door; she could feel her energy bleed out of her pores and disappear into the air as she used her abilities again. 

"Anything?" 

"Stand down!" Kara looked to the guards. "They're friendlies. Let them in." 

The base exhaled in relief, exhausted and bruised, no one was ready for an assault. The soldiers let their bodies sag back into a state of tiredness, dragging their feet again instead of stomping and lowering their heads instead of keeping their chins up. 

Kara fidgeted as the mountain of a front door was unlocked and pushed open by several agents, after a few awkward shoves, a few someones began pushing from the other side, and the whole door quickly swung to the side. 

A man slipped into the DEO, weary-looking and dishevelled; he had a gun strapped loosely around one shoulder and grey streaks in his hair. 

"Supergirl," he said, suddenly noticing that the former hero was waiting for him on the other side. 

"Morgan Edge." Kara lunged forward, pulling her old friend into a tight hug. 

"Kara, I've missed you." Morgan smiled and gripped back as hard as he could, trying to match her unmatchable strength. 

"I haven't seen you since the hospital." 

"That was February, right? Last year? Did you find Alex?" 

Kara let him go, gripping his biceps instead to keep him close. "I haven't seen anyone since that portal opened. I think Alex is gone." 

Morgan nodded slowly, absorbing the information. "Okay. Yeah. I thought... Maybe." 

"Yeah."

"What about Kelly?" 

"She left. She took Alex's disappearance badly." 

"Right." 

"Last I heard, she was with the Red Faction." 

Morgan nodded. "Good. They needed someone like Kelly. It's a good fit."

A few people trickled in through the door, survivors and soldiers alike. Kara watched as Morgan's people were met with open arms, handed bottles of water and shown the nearest places to sit and rest. 

"Kara, I should tell you..." 

A child ran inside and screamed happily as his mother ran in after him, scooping him up and apologising for the noises her son made. 

"There are children. You saved children." 

"Kara... We found someone. A scientist. She didn't tell us her real name for weeks." 

"It's wonderful. It's been so long since I've seen a family." 

"She called herself Lorilee. My lieutenant introduced us recently, I recognised her-" 

"What? What are you talking-"

All words and any breath died on supergirls tongue as a dark-haired woman walked into the DEO, proud and strong looking, the woman surveyed the area before noticing the Kryptonian staring. 

"Lena..." 

Morgan looked over his shoulder. "I tried to warn you." 

Only Lena Luthor would look relaxed not having the world on her shoulders but instead crumbling at her feet. The former hero swallowed and stared, unable to pull more than whispers of air into her lungs, she stood like a statue and watched. 

Lena approached and stood by Edge, avoiding the Super's eyes. "The DEO is still here, just like you said." 

Morgan smiled. "I had a hunch that maybe, some old friends would still be hanging around." 

. . .

It was incredibly strange for Lena to see Supergirl adorned in a DEO outfit, black and tactical versus the bright colours of the house of EL or the nerdy, cute colours of her collar shirts and chinos. Supergirl, after the apocalypse was a completely different creature compared to the hero that existed prior, the light in her eyes, had been replaced with something cold and angry, vacant even, like a piece of the hero wasn't here anymore, and that realisation was shockingly heartbreaking. Lena Luthor wanted Supergirl to suffer for the longest time, but now that she could personally see the hero so broken and empty, all Lena wanted was for the world to return, for things to go back to the way they once were so that she could fix everything with an order from Big Belly Burger. 

"Working underground might be safer, in theory, but there are benefits to solar power."

Kara looked up from her bowl of slop, confused about the conversation that she was suddenly apart of and the woman who sat down next to her suddenly. 

"I could have panels installed by the end of the week. Imagine it -- hot showers, lights after dark, stronger radio signals." 

"Um." Kara looked around the mess hall, but no one else seemed to notice the strange interaction. 

"It would require maintenance. More runs. I could even get solars lamps."

"I don't understand." 

"Its just energy transference-"

"No. Why are you- I thought- I thought you hated me?" 

"The world ended. Do we have time for such things?" 

"I guess not." Kara sighed. "It's a good idea. The solar thing. You should bring it up at the next briefing." 

Lena observed the alien stir her food with a spoon, listlessly. "We could even make hot meals. Bread should be easy enough and then who knows, maybe pizza?" 

There was a subtle twitch on the edge of Supergirl's lips. 

"Figures that food would be the thing to get you to smile. I am looking forward to a hot shower." 

"Solar lamps, huh?" 

"You should eat more." Lena slid her bowl in front of the hero before rising for her seat. "Does no one here know how to feed a Kryptonian?" 

Kara looked at second bowl like it didn't make sense and when she did finally looked up, Lena had vanished, and Kara wondered if the encounter had actually happened or if she had honestly hallucinated the whole thing. 

. . .

Kara found extra rations in her room, with a small note, something simple and elegant and very familiar. Then there was flowers and dirty postcards that had been picked up on runs. At lunch or dinner, an extra amount of food would find its way onto Kara's plate or bowl. Once, while they were walking by one another, Lena chucked a packet of jelly beans at the alien without breaking stride. 

The two had a cautious friendship, something that had come from the ashes of their city. Kara ventured out more, often when Lena or Morgan joins the party in search of some technical thingy-ma-jig. 

. . .

Morgan Edge and his people had fully integrated with the DEO, or what was left. The idea of installing solar panels above ground was met with mixed responses; most were afraid that using such technologies so openly would make them an obvious target. Supergirl defended the idea and supported it, much to the surprise of everyone. 

"We can't stay underground forever. That's not living." 

"I know. I agree- but we have already lost seven people to this idea. We were doing fine before Miss Luthor decided to come back." 

Kara ripped open another crate and looked inside. "Empty. This warehouse has been hit hard already." 

"What if she is just trying to rebuild her brand?" 

"That's ridiculous. She wants to help." 

"Really? Because I remember Miss Luthor wanting to kill you for a while there."

"That's a gross exaggeration."

Vasquez pointed at another crate, and Kara quickly ripped the lid off with more force than necessary. 

"Empty" 

"Over here!" Lena Luthor popped up from behind a rusted machine with a big grin, indifferent towards the tension between the two colleagues. 

"I found a resistor and some old computer chips, useless on their own but can take out the gold and repurpose them. Also, I found some copper wire that I can strip down." 

"Yay." Kara nodded along. 

"Not much left here, honestly. We could try the old chemical laboratory, a few miles north of here." 

Lena's watch beeped, loud and abrupt, she looked down at it, rushing to push some buttons although the device did not silence. 

"We have to go. Now."

"What is that?"

"Breeches!" Morgan yelled from outside. 

Lena grabbed Kara's wrist and led her outside. Morgan had his gun raised at the breech, a swirling blue portal, a door to another world.

"Would you believe that programmable clones from the future of another earth are hunting me?"

Kara paused only for a second. "Yes. I would believe that." 

"Good because they are armed, deadly and very blonde." 

Vasquez pulled out her weapon and stood ready next to Morgan. "I knew Miss Luthor was going to bring trouble!" 

Morgan cocked his gun. "Here, they come!" 


End file.
